VATICAN CITY  Benedict XVI, the pope known for his hefty volumes of theology, is now trying brevity — spreading the faith through his own Twitter account.

The pontiff will tweet in eight languages starting Dec. 12 using his personal handle @Pontifex, responding live to questions about faith during his weekly general audience, the Vatican said Monday.

Questions can be submitted to #askpontifex, and the pope will likely respond to three to five of those sent from around the world, the Vatican’s communications adviser Greg Burke said at a news conference.

The pope sent his first tweet last year from a Vatican account to launch the Holy See’s news information portal, part of efforts to increase the church presence in social media and spread the faith.

A personal Twitter account for the 85-year-old Benedict has been the subject of speculation ever since; Monday’s news conference was packed in an indication of the interest it has generated.

Within two hours of the announcement of the pope’s handle, he had already garnered nearly 60,000 followers.

Burke said the handle @Pontifex was chosen because it not only means pope in Latin, but also bridge-builder, suggesting unity. How often will the pope tweet? “As often as he wants,” Burke said, adding that he hoped the tweeting would be frequent and regular.